Job 1:15
and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”
English Standard Version (ESV)
This page isn't yet indexed by search engines.
The phrasing "I alone have escaped to tell you" carries a deeper sting: the attackers deliberately spared this one messenger. This wasn't just a random survivor; Satan ensured there would be someone to deliver the devastating news swiftly, aiming to overwhelm Job with immediate, unmitigated suffering.
This verse is part of a devastating report delivered to Job. It follows news that his oxen and donkeys were stolen and his servants killed, and immediately precedes reports of Chaldean raids and a lightning strike that killed his sheep and other servants. The messenger, one of Job's servants, describes a sudden, violent raid by a group known as the Sabeans, who plundered his livestock and slaughtered the men guarding them, leaving him as the sole survivor to deliver the grim news.
Imagine your livelihood suddenly vanishing in a brutal raid. This isn't a movie plot; it's the reality for Job.
The Sabeans: More Than Just a Name
The text names the attackers as "Sabeans." While their exact identity is debated among scholars, they are consistently understood as a group known for sudden, violent raids. They weren't a distant, abstract threat, but likely a neighboring people whose culture involved taking what they wanted by force.
This wasn't just a theft; it was a brutal assault. The servants who were working the fields were killed with the sword. This detail emphasizes the violence and the complete destruction of Job's immediate possessions and the people who managed them.
In the midst of total devastation, one person escapes—not for safety, but to deliver the devastating news. What does that feel like?
The Weight of the Message
The most striking part of this account is the detail: 'and I alone have escaped to tell you.' This wasn't an accidental survival. Satan, the unseen force behind these calamities, ensured one person survived each raid. Why?
Understand the original words
chereb · Hebrew Noun
A weapon of war, often used symbolically in Scripture to represent judgment, power, or divine justice.
This verse describes Ishmael as a 'wild donkey of a man,' whose hand would be against everyone and everyone's hand against him. This foreshadows the predatory and independent nature of some Arab tribes, like the Sabeans, who lived by raiding.
Ezekiel 38:13The merchants of Tarshish and the mighty lions of Sheba and Dedan question the motives of Gog when he invades. This highlights that Sheba and Dedan were known for their trade and wealth, but also implies a history or association with raiding that could link them to the Sabeans in Job.
Psalm 72:10This psalm speaks of kings of Sheba and Seba bringing gifts to the righteous ruler. While this presents a different picture of Sheba, it shows the geographical and historical significance of this region, often associated with wealth and influence, from which such raids could originate.
Jeremiah 6:20The prophet laments that the people have rejected God's law and asks, 'What use are frankincense from Sheba or cinnamon from a distant land to me?' This shows Sheba was known for valuable goods, but in this context, it also suggests a distance and perhaps a foreignness that aligns with a people known for incursions.
pooleJob 1:15: "And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee."
The Sabeans; a people of Arabia, who led a wandering life, and lived by robbery and spoiling of others, as Strabo and other heathen writers note. I only am escaped alone to tell thee; whom Satan spared no less maliciously than he destroyed the rest, that Job might have speedy and certain intelligence of his calamity.
ellicottJob 1:15: "And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee."
(15) The Sabeans. —Literally, Sheba. Three persons named Sheba are found in Genesis: (1) The son of Raamah and grandson of Cush ( Genesis 10:7 ); (2) the son of Jokshan and grandson of Abraham ( Genesis 25:3 ); (3) The son of Joktanand grandson of Eber ( Genesis 10:28 ). It is probably the second who is referred to here, whose de…
The phrasing "I alone have escaped to tell you" carries a deeper sting: the attackers deliberately spared this one messenger. This wasn't just a random survivor; Satan ensured there would be someone to deliver the devastating news swiftly, aiming to overwhelm Job with immediate, unmitigated suffering.
This verse is part of a devastating report delivered to Job. It follows news that his oxen and donkeys were stolen and his servants killed, and immediately precedes reports of Chaldean raids and a lightning strike that killed his sheep and other servants. The messenger, one of Job's servants, describes a sudden, violent raid by a group known as the Sabeans, who plundered his livestock and slaughtered the men guarding them, leaving him as the sole survivor to deliver the grim news.
This verse is part of a devastating report delivered to Job. It follows news that his oxen and donkeys were stolen and his servants killed, and immediately precedes reports of Chaldean raids and a lightning strike that killed his sheep and other servants. The messenger, one of Job's servants, describes a sudden, violent raid by a group known as the Sabeans, who plundered his livestock and slaughtered the men guarding them, leaving him as the sole survivor to deliver the grim news.
Get the original Greek and Hebrew, verse-by-verse context, and related passages inside the app.
Ask a follow-up
Ask Sola things like:
Live chat about Job 1:15 is available in the Sola app.
"and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”" — The phrasing "I alone have escaped to tell you" carries a deeper sting: the attackers deliberately spared this one messenger. This wasn't just a random survivor; Satan ensured there would be someone…
